


wherever you are (is the place i belong)

by ariquitecontrary (ItsAriyanna)



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: 2x05 Rewrite, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-01-31 20:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12689676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsAriyanna/pseuds/ariquitecontrary
Summary: In which Mama Cooper might not be the best at parenting sometimes, but she'll be damned if she lets her daughter lose the one good thing in her life.AKA. Alice and Betty have a heart to heart and then Jughead and Betty have a heart to heart.





	wherever you are (is the place i belong)

**Author's Note:**

> First things first! BETTY NEVER GOES TO SEE THE FUCKING BLACK HOOD BECAUSE THAT WAS SO STUPID ON THE WRITERS PARTS, OH FREAKING KAY? Okay. :) ALSO! Black Hood never finds out about her talking to Archie and she never tells him to kill Nick because I'm not trying to have my lovely child be an ACCOMPLICE TO POSSIBLE MURDER, FUCK OFF RAS, FOR REAL. 
> 
> Title is from Ready to Run by One Direction (because I'm trash LMFAOOO) but the song and the lyrics are actually so perfect for this fic and for Betty and Jughead's current situation so... :) sue me.
> 
> Enjoy this fic. See ya at the bottom!

Betty sits by her window, tears streaming down her cheeks as she looks outside at the empty streets. Streets that she had once deemed safe, where she would walk with Archie or play tag with Jughead. Streets where the three of them would play baseball together in the middle of the day before getting called home for dinner. Streets that they had all grown up on; streets filled with a lifetime of memories.

She looks down and sees a ladder next to the window and her mind flies to when Jughead had used that very same ladder to sneak into her room. She hadn’t known it then, but her entire life was about to change. Before that moment she had thought that she was destined to be the heartbroken girl-next-door; forever chasing after a boy who would never want her. She felt like she was doomed to be everyone’s last chance; unlovable until convenient for them. Always the best friend, never the girlfriend.

And then Jughead climbed through her window. She remembers the playful look on his face as he called her Juliet. And the nervousness on it before he leaned in and kissed her. If she closes her eyes she can see him just as he had been on that day. She touches her fingers to her lips and she can even feel his lips on hers, slightly chapped but warm and inviting. Nothing had ever felt so right and as much as she hated the word, she could only describe the moment as perfect. If there was such a thing as perfect in this world, it could only be defined as the moment Jughead Jones decided to take a leap of faith and courage and kiss her. 

She had always pictured her first kiss as one way and one way only. Archie and her outside of her house after a nice first date, both of them nervous but sure of each other. He would walk her to the front door and then he’d kiss her goodnight. And it would be everything she had ever dreamed of. 

Except it wasn’t. 

Her first kiss was spontaneous. It was surprising and world crashing. It was sneaky and personal. It wasn’t after a bad first date or on the front porch of a house she wished she could escape from. It was in her room, her one safe place. It was surrounded by memories of a life she’d always had with the person kissing her. And when they had finally pulled away, even though she’d whispered something else, all she could think was yes. _This_ was exactly how it was always supposed to be. Suddenly being Archie’s best friend didn’t matter at all to her. She wasn’t Jughead’s best friend and he wasn’t hers. They were something more; they always had been. They always would be. 

She wishes more than anything that they could go back to that day. Things hadn’t been great, but at least they had each other. Despite everything, she had the comfort of Jughead and knowing that no matter what happened, she’d still have him in the end. Now she didn’t even have that. Sure, she told Archie that they could come back from all of this in the end, but could they? Could Jughead forgive her? Could she forgive herself? 

Another sob escapes her lips and she throws her head back against the wall, hard enough that it hurts. Because she needs it to hurt. Everything hurts and she just wants it all to stop. She needs everything to stop. She can’t do this. She doesn’t _want_ to do this. She’d been an idiot to think that she could follow the Black Hood’s rules and that he’d leave her alone. Her phone is placed faced down in front of her and on silent. She doesn’t want to hear it ring. Not right now. Not anymore. She isn’t strong enough to deal with this. Already she feels like she’s falling apart and she doesn’t know how much more of this she can take. 

She wishes she could just tell her mom, but she’s scared. She’s terrified out of her mind. Everything feels impossible. If she tells anyone then she could get someone killed and she won’t allow anymore deaths to happen, especially not ones because of her. She thinks of Jughead, of the threat the Black Hood had made towards him. She refuses to be the reason why Jughead ends up dead. If he were to die… if anything were to happen to him… she shuts her eyes. She won’t think about that. There’s no reason to think about any of that. Not now. Not anymore. Jughead will be safe. He will be okay. And one day, one day when this is all over, they’ll find their way back to each other. They have to. She has to believe that. It’s the only thing that keeps her going.

A knock on her door startles her and she jumps up before she realizes that she’s safe. At least for right now. 

She dries her eyes and tries to yell out a ‘come in’ that sounds normal but it comes out broken. The door opens anyway and her mother walks in. Betty’s eyes widen as she takes in her appearance. 

“Mom?” She asks, voice hoarse. She’s dressed in a snakeskin romper that has a train that flares out in the back. The gold serpent necklace around her neck gleams in the light. She looks fearless. She looks beautiful. She looks like everything Betty wished she could be. 

“Should have seen the town’s faces,” her mom says with a smile as she saunters in. “I thought your father was about to have a heart attack.” Alice looks up and takes in the appearance of her daughter and frowns. “Betty? What’s wrong?” When she doesn’t answer, the frown deepens but this time it looks more angry than concerned. “Is it Jughead? Did something happen?” 

Betty crumbles again, tears falling freely from her eyes as she hunches over in pain. Is this was heartbreak feels like? It’s unbearable and she doesn’t know how she’s ever supposed to feel okay again. How does anyone move on from something like this? 

“Oh, Betty,” Alice says in a voice softer than anything she’s heard in awhile. Warm arms engulf her and she allows all her body weight to fall on top of her mom. “What happened?” 

She debates telling her mom everything, but she doesn’t. She can’t. 

“I broke up with him,” she says. She doesn’t know why she says it. Her mother is hardly Jughead’s biggest fan. She’ll probably be over the moon about this. She’ll probably tell her that it’s for the best and that Betty will be okay; that she’s better off without him. Maybe that’s what Betty needs to hear, though. Maybe if she hears it enough times then she’ll start to believe it. Unlikely but she’s willing to do anything to forget about the pain that’s blooming throughout her entire body right now. 

Instead her mother just asks a simple ‘why?’. 

The question throws Betty off. Why? Because some fucking psycho lunatic threatened her. It was either this or she would single handedly be the reason for Jughead’s death. She didn’t have a choice. She never had a choice. When it came to Jughead and his safety, Betty would do anything to ensure it. 

“Because we’re too different,” she says, lying; focusing on the reason that everyone will probably be quick to jump to. “We were just fooling ourselves thinking it could last. A Northsider with the son of a Serpent? It was only a matter of time before we crashed and burned.” She says the words lifelessly. She isn’t even crying anymore. She’s just staring out of the window with a blank look on her face as she recites the words that she knows people whisper behind her back. It would hurt if she could even feel anything at this point. 

Alice sits up; a look in her eyes that Betty isn’t sure what to classify as. She touches the gold serpent around her neck and a wistful smile plays on her lips. 

“You know,” she says softly in a voice that is so _not_ Alice Cooper, “I once loved someone that I was told I could never be with.”

“Dad?” Betty asks, because she’s never known her mother to have ever loved anyone else. Her mom just snorts and shakes her head. 

“No, not your father. Someone else; someone more. He was everything I shouldn’t have wanted and your grandparents absolutely hated him,” she smiles like she’s thinking of an old memory and Betty can’t help but smile too. For the first time since she’d seen Jughead at Pop’s, she smiles. “I didn’t care, though. I thought he was the most amazing boy I had ever met and he was. He really was. We loved each other, despite whispers around town and rumors and talk of how we’d never last. I loved him with every part of my soul.” 

“I could have spent my whole life with him. It didn’t matter if we had nothing, which we didn’t, because at least we had each other.” The smile falls from her face and Betty bites at her lip. She’s never seen her mother like this before; so open and so torn apart. It doesn’t feel right. It’s a stark contrast from the cold, careless woman she knows. “I could have had it all with him. I almost did.”

“What happened?” 

“I wasn’t strong enough. I let stupid whispers get to me. I let my parents scare me out of it. I listened to everyone else except for my own heart and I walked away. I walked away from the only person I’ve ever truly loved.” The sentence confirms thoughts Betty had had for a while. She had known that there wasn’t much love between her parents, but now she knows why. 

“Do you regret it?” Betty asks because she needs to know. She _has_ to know. 

Her mom shrugs. “I can’t regret it, because your father gave me you and he gave me your sister and there isn’t a single thing I would change about that.” A tear slides down her cheek and Betty has to blink to force away her own. “You two girls are the only thing in my life that’s good and so that means that I’ve only ever wanted the best for you. I know that I’ve done some pretty terrible things and that I don’t always listen to you when you need it, but Betty you have to believe that all I’ve ever wanted for you was happiness.” 

“I know,” Betty whispers, because she does. Her mother might be a lot of things, but she isn’t a heartless monster. She’s always known this, but now she has a story to back it up on. Things that hadn’t made much sense before, now come across as crystal clear. 

“Jughead Jones is a good boy,” her mother says softly as she reaches out for Betty’s hand, holding it in her own. “Despite the way I might have acted towards him, he is good and he makes you so happy. Do you love him?” 

Betty nods, not trusting herself to talk without bursting into tears. 

“And I know he loves you. Whatever’s happened, whatever reason you think you can’t be with him, it doesn’t matter. If you love him and if he loves you then don’t let go of that, Betty. Don’t let whispers and words get to you, don’t let strangers rip away this chance at happiness. None of them matter. The only thing that matters in this world is you. I wasn’t strong enough and I let the love of my life slip away from under my fingers. Don’t let that be you.”

The words roll around in her head. She wants to run out of the room and straight to Jughead’s place, but she can’t. She just can’t. 

“What if being with him could get him hurt?” She whispers. 

“That’s something you need to let him decide on. You don’t get to choose his fate, Elizabeth. He deserves to be given a chance. Don’t take that away from him. You’ll never forgive yourself for it.” She stands up and presses a kiss to Betty’s forehead before turning to walk out of them room. Just as she opens up the door, Betty turns around to face her. 

“Mom? Who was the guy? The one that you loved?” 

The gentle smile from earlier reappears on her mother’s face. “Just some Southside Serpent.” 

A serpent. It doesn’t shock her as much as it probably should. The Cooper women just seemed to fall in love with Southsiders. “Do you think that maybe one day you might be able to be with him again? To have a second chance?” 

She shakes her head, but the smile doesn’t leave her face. “It’s too late for us. It’s your turn now, Betty. Be happy. Give yourself the life that I couldn’t give myself.” She walks out, but leaves the door open. 

Betty glances at her phone before turning it over and unlocking it. No messages. No missed calls. Before she can think about it, she gets up and slips on her shoes, walking out of the house without looking back. She just needs to see him. Just once. Her mother was right. He needs to hear this from her, not from Archie. It’s the least he deserves. He deserves to be given a choice. She’ll face the consequences for this later, but right now she just needs to see him. 

 

The trailer looks exactly the same and yet different, stranger. She considers just walking in, but decides on knocking instead. She can hear the sound of heavy feet walking towards the door and she tries to hide the smile that so desperately aches to spread across her face. 

The door swings open. “Toni, I told you, I--.” 

He stops mid sentence when he sees that it’s Betty standing in front of him. She might have made a joke about how he’d gotten them mixed up, but all she can focus on instead is the purple bruises and cuts that litter across his face. His eye is nearly closed shut and one side of his face is completely swollen. 

“Juggie?” She whispers in horror, reaching out to touch it but dropping her hand last minute. “What happened to your face? Who did this to you?” Her mind goes to the darkest place. The Black Hood must have done this. This was a mistake. She can’t do this. 

“What are you doing here?” His voice is cold and distant in a way that it’s never been towards her. She flinches away. She doesn’t understand why he’s so upset. She told Archie to be kind about it. He _had_ listened to her, hadn’t he?

“I need to talk to you,” she pleads. If he turns her away, if he shuts the door in her face, she doesn’t know what she’ll do. 

“I think Archie did enough of that already. Or have you just come to rub more salt into the wound?” 

Her eyebrows furrow as she looks at him with a deepening frown. “What are you talking about?” 

“What are you doing here, Betty?” He asks again, sighing this time like he’s tired. “You’ve wanted to do this for weeks, right? You’ve been agonizing over it; over the realization that I’m just Southside scum, destined for a life of gangs and violence, and you can never be with someone like me. Looks like I was right, huh?”

“What did Archie tell you?” She asks, exasperated. 

“Just what I should have known.” 

Her heart breaks. She doesn’t know what the hell happened, but she knows that she needs to fix this. If she doesn’t fix this then that’s it. They will never come back from this and she isn’t ready to give up on them just yet. 

“Can I come in?” It looks like he wants to tell her no, but after a few seconds he finally nods and moves aside. Her gaze follows his movements and that’s when she takes in the blank ink on his upper arm; a serpent tattoo. His eyes follow her own and when he sees what she’s looking at, he moves away from the door and walks further into the living room. 

“You did it,” she whispers as she closes the door behind herself. “You actually joined the serpents.” 

He looks away from her, refusing to meet her eyes and Betty walks closer to him until she’s right in front of him. 

“I had to,” he whispers. “Serpent by blood and all. They’re all I have right now.” Betty wants to tell him that that’s not true; that he still has her. That he’ll always have her. But she can’t. Not anymore. “It’s the only way I can make sure that a civil war doesn’t break out between the Northside and Southside, although I guess it doesn’t even matter anymore, huh? I don’t even have anything left on the Northside. What am I even fighting for?”

“Is this what you want?” Betty asks. “To be a Serpent?” 

His eyes look haunted, full of misery and an internal conflict. “It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s too late.” 

Betty wants to cry. Is this her fault? Did she lead him to this? To a life now connected to a gang? For the rest of his life he will be a part of this gang; he will forever be owned by them and he isn’t even eighteen yet. He hasn’t even had a chance to live, to leave Riverdale and all of this behind. Is this it for him? Is this all he’ll ever be? She wants to believe that it’s not; she doesn’t know a lot about gangs but she’s pretty sure that they aren’t very lenient about letting you leave. 

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers. She reaches out and runs her fingers across the new tattoo. He hisses at the touch and she pulls away as if she’s burned him. 

“Betty,” he looks torn, “why are you here? We’re done. It’s what you wanted so why are you doing this?” 

“I need to tell you something,” she says, the words leaving her mouth before she can even think twice. “And I’m scared because I don’t want you to hate me.” 

For the first time since she’s knocked on his door, his face softens and he looks at her like he’s looked at her so many times before; full of love and adoration. 

“Why would I hate you? Betty, I don’t… I could _never_ hate you.” 

Tears roll down her cheeks and she lets out a deep breath. “Because I’ve been lying to you, to everyone, but especially to you and I know I shouldn’t have but I’ve just been so scared. You were starting your new school and you have so much going on with your dad and trying to figure out your place over here on the Southside and I just didn’t want to make things worse for you.”

“You’re scaring me, Betty. What’s wrong? What happened? Are you okay?” 

“The Black Hood’s been calling me,” she finally admits to him. As soon as the words leave her lips, she suddenly feels a million times lighter. Archie was her best friend and while he had been as helpful as he possibly could have been, he wasn’t what she needed. She needed Jughead. He was the one she needed by her side. He was the only person who could make all of this okay. 

_“What?”_ He hisses. “What do you mean he’s been calling you? Since when? Betty, what the hell?” 

She cries harder at the angry tone. “Don’t be mad at me, please. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t tell you. I was so scared.” 

Jughead pauses, taking in her words. “You told Archie though, didn’t you?” She nods. “So why tell me now? What’s changed?” 

“He’s been threatening me,” she says, trying to gain her composure. “He told me he doesn’t want to share me with anyone. He made me cut Veronica out of my life and you. If I didn’t then he said he’d hurt the people I loved. I couldn’t let him do that, Juggie. I couldn’t let him hurt you.” 

It doesn’t even take a second before Jughead’s wrapping her into his arms, crushing their bodies together. Betty cries into his chest because she had been so scared that she would never feel this again; never feel his arms around her and the warmth and comfort they offered. She rests her head against his chest and focuses on the beating of his heart. She’s just confessed everything to him and he’s still alive. He’s alive and he’s hugging her. 

“I had to tell you,” she says into his chest and his arms tighten around her. “I just needed you to know. No matter what happens, I love you. I love you, Jughead Jones and there won’t ever be a day when I don’t love you. I couldn’t let you think I hated you, because I don’t.” 

“I love you,” he whispers, lips pressed against the top of her head. “You don’t have to do this alone, Betty. You and I can get through this together, the two of us, just like it was always meant to be. We don’t have to let him tear us apart. If this stupid divide won’t tear us apart then neither will some psycho in a black hood.”

“You don’t understand,” Betty tells him. “He threatened Polly and my parents. If I don’t listen to him then people will die. Innocent people will die all because of me.”

“Have you told your parents about this?” She shakes her head and he pulls away from her, locking their eyes together. “Well, we’re going to. And we’re going to tell whoever we can that can help you. I can protect you, Betty. The Serpents? They can protect you too. They protect my family and you’re my family. Polly and your parents? They’ll be safe. I swear. We’re going to find out who’s doing this and I swear to God, he’s going to pay for everything he’s done.” 

“Jughead,” she begs, shaking her head but he cuts her off. 

“No,” he says, voice hard. “You’re not dealing with this alone. You knew I wouldn’t let you and that’s why you came here to see me. It’s you and me, Betty, until the end. Whatever you’re going through, I’m going to go through it with you. Let me protect you, let me _help_ you.” 

“I’m scared,” she admits. 

“I know,” he says before leaning forward and pressing their lips together softly. Betty closes her eyes and focuses on the feeling of them. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to feel them again, but she is and it’s perfect. He pulls away and cups her cheeks with his hands. “But you don’t have to be. He won’t get away with this and he won’t hurt anyone else. Not you, not me, not Polly or your parents or Veronica. We’re going to get through this, all of us, together.” 

“I love you,” she cries but she’s smiling because for the first time in so long, she feels safe and like there might just be a light at the end of this dark, fucked up tunnel. For the first time in so long, she feels hopeful. It might be in vain, but she doesn’t care. 

Jughead smiles back at her before taking a step backwards. 

“I need to tell you something too,” he admits as he looks away from her. “And I just need you to know that it meant nothing to me, Betty. It never could.” She just stares at him, heart beating rapidly against her chest. When he realizes that she isn’t going to say anything, he sighs. “I kissed Toni.” 

It feels like she can’t breathe. Her entire body freezes as she looks at him, unmoving. Her heart breaks for what feels like the hundredth time that day and she truthfully does not know how much more of this she can handle. 

“ _You_ kissed her?” She asks, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible. “Why?” 

“I had just finished being initiated into the Serpents; walking the gauntlet, it’s called.” That explains the bruises on his face. “I was in pain and I was so angry about thinking you’d just given up on us. I wasn’t in the right headspace and I was vulnerable. Toni was helping patch me up and I told her that we were over and the next thing I know she’s kissing me. I didn’t stop her, even though I should have. I let her kiss me and I kissed her back.” 

Betty just looks at him, wondering why he’s even telling her this. She doesn’t want to hear any of this. 

“Okay,” she whispers. 

“It meant nothing,” he repeats to her. “It didn’t take that long to figure that out. I didn’t feel anything and neither did Toni. I think it was just something that happened in the moment and when it did, we realized that that’s not what we want from each other. It never was.” 

“Oh,” she says, trying not to hide how relieved that makes her feel. She’d be lying if she said that she hadn’t felt a little jealous of just how much Toni and Jughead seemed to have in common. As much as it hurts to hear that they kissed, the relief she feels at hearing that it meant nothing is uncomparable. 

“I’m sorry.” She can tell he means it. He looks completely broken over it, like he’s scared that this might be a deal breaker for her. Betty just smiles at him lovingly. 

“Don’t be,” she says. “You kissed a girl while we were broken up. You were vulnerable and sad and hurt. I don’t hold it against you. It’s going to take a lot more than an experimental kiss to break us apart, Juggie. I don’t care about that and I’m not mad at you for it.” 

“Really?” He asks like he’s not sure if he can believe her. 

“Really. You and I? We’re it. When all of this is over and done with, it’ll still be us together. Always. I’m sorry if I ever made you doubt that for even a second.” 

Jughead finally smiles, relieved and hopeful just like her. 

“When all of this is done, what do you say we get out of here for a while? Just hop on the back of my motorcycle and chase the horizon? Leave Riverdale and everyone else behind.”

“Kind of like Romeo and Juliet?” Betty asks, their conversation from the diner coming back to her.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “But we’ll live happily ever after.” 

“Happily ever after,” she whispers to herself. “I like the sound of that.” 

“First things first, we tell your parents. You ready for this?” Jughead asks her, holding out a hand to her. They both know that they’re about to deal with a lot of obstacles. Their fight isn’t even close to being over, but at least now they’re fighting it together just like it was always meant to be. No matter what happens next, they’re together. It’s enough to give Betty a sense of hope, the courage to _fight_ ; something she hadn’t had before. 

“I’m ready,” she nods as she takes hold of his hand. She can’t rewrite the past and what’s happened so far, but she can change the future. And she will. One step at a time and when it feels like it’s all getting too much and like she might drown, all she has to do is look next to her, to the boy that she loves and she knows that she’ll be okay; maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day she’ll be okay. They’ll all be okay. She has hope and right now, that’s enough.

**Author's Note:**

> I've never ever written a fix-it fic for anything canon before so I'm super freaking nervous about this one. I really hope you guys liked it. <3


End file.
